Communications provider FLOW has come out on top in Wisynco ECO’s most recent Recycle Challenge with the collection of 131,544 plastic bottles.

Following in a close second was Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL), another of the six corporate companies that began the journey of challenging themselves to collect as many plastic bottles as they could over a three-month period.

As is customary at the culmination of the challenge, Wisynco’s environment communications officer Shelly-Ann Dunkley, handed over the winning trophy and a cheque for $200,000 to be donated to a charity of their choice or an environment-related project or initiative. However, in a new twist, the winners brought along their own cash prize to the recent awards ceremony.

In the spirit of good faith and to show their dedication to the initiative, FLOW pledged $200,000 to Wisynco ECO to be used in future projects and promised the reinstatement of their own plastic bottle-collection initiative.

“We are very grateful to Wisynco for affording us the opportunity to enhance our environmental programme. At FLOW, our theme for this year is ‘Great by choice’. What we saw over the three months of the challenge was a reignited passion among our team members for the protection of the environment,” said Ceila Morgan, communications manager for FLOW.

“We saw persons who previously looked at plastic bottles as garbage, seeing them now as a very precious commodity and seeing the benefits of recycling,” she added.

DIRECT ALIGNMENT

Meanwhile, Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited, the second-place winner with 131,400 plastic bottles collected, noted their own commitment to the environment.

“KFTL decided to participate in this challenge because it is in direct alignment with our recycling and environmental efforts at the port. We saw it as a continuation of what we’ve already started through our environmental programme, ‘KFTL Go Blue’, that features various initiatives to improve waste management, energy and resource conservation,” said Christopher Gayle, environmental specialist with KFTL.

The Recycle Challenge started less than a year ago, in June 2018, and has managed to gain the commitment of over 18 corporate companies, NGOs and the endorsement of government institutions. Since inception, the companies have now collectively recovered over 1,000,000 plastic bottles.

“We are immensely pleased with the efforts and dedication shown by this group of corporate challengers,” said Dunkley.

“We are eager, now more than ever, to ensure all participants in the corporate challenge continue their daily recycling habits. We’ve seen at first-hand the impact we are making in the lives of not only these companies and the individual staff members, but in transforming the overall recycling culture within Jamaica,” she added.